Six times UCI Downhill World Champion, six times World Cup overall champion, holder of 39 World Cup wins and the first downhill racer to ever deliver a “Perfect Season” Rachel Atherton has done it all.

The 35 year old has effectively been away from racing ever since she snapped her achilles during practice at Les Gets back in 2019.

Recovery from injury was followed by the birth of her daughter Arna in August 2021,  for more than three years Rachel didn’t set foot on a racetrack…

But in July 2022 Rachel made a last minute decision to ride at one race only, at Lenzerheide. She said at the time:

I wanted to benchmark myself and to show that you can have a baby and still do sport. I wanted to see if I would still feel that passion, whether it was even enjoyable anymore, if it was even possible.

Sixth place that day saw Rachel just one spot off the podium. It proved to her that she is still very much a racer! Rachel admits that it was hard not to be annoyed at missing a medal, but acknowledges that it would have been too easy.

You shouldn't be able to rock up to a World Cup and get straight back on the podium with no preparation.

Rachel admits that for the longest time she couldn’t even contemplate training again, she says:

I’ve always been open about the fact that being a mum hasn’t been easy for me, I’ve really struggled, despite great support from my mum and my partner Olly. The lack of sleep was so hard, the lack of focus and routine wasn’t good for me either – especially as I never committed to a decision of either retiring or carrying on racing! It was a bit of a limbo time.

Arna sleeping through the night (a quite recent milestone) has meant that I’m in a better mental state, I feel like it’s allowed me to make good decisions. I’m loving the routine of training again and it’s really helped my mental health regularly training, exercising again, and it helps with sleep too!

I’ve remembered that I love racing! But I’m glad I’ve taken my time returning to sport and I’m glad I gave myself nearly two years to just be with Arna 24/7 and to just be a mother and be there for her, I’ve  always wanted to try and put Arna “first” by breastfeeding on demand and that’s been so amazing but also limiting. She’s still going to travel with me because I feel more relaxed when I get to hang out with her in between the stresses of competition. I think leaving her behind would be worse as I’d miss her so much, my mum is coming as nanny and that’s awesome!

So I’ll be travelling to the first World Cup of 2023 with the ultimate goal of getting selected for the World Championships in August on our home turf of Fort William. But what’s most important is to be part of the team again, to enjoy the process. I’m excited to just compete and see what happens.

You can watch all the action from the UCI Mountain Bike World Series from Lenzerheide, Switzerland globally on GCN+, as well as Eurosport and discovery+  08 -11 June. Don’t miss out!